Opinion: A college admits a big mistake

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, August 3, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist It’s hard to admit that you made a mistake. So the leaders of the University of California, Irvine, deserve some praise this morning. They messed up, badly. After finding themselves with too many entering freshmen for this fall, Irvine officials rescinded the acceptances of almost 500 students, devastating those students. Then the officials spent days defending their decision as unfortunate but consistent with university policy. But on Wednesday, they admitted they had been wrong. They apologized. And they reinstated most of the incoming students. I have been following the story this week and have found it to be a fascinating case study in human behavior and leadership. I wrote [a column]( about the saga this morning. On the news. President Trump is not immune from the normal rules of politics, as I’ve argued before. His approval rating continues to fall, according to new polls released yesterday. Nick Gourevitch, a Democratic pollster, had a [tweetstorm]( breaking down the numbers: “ ‘Teflon Don’ remains a myth: that nothing he says/does sticks. Truth is that chaos & health care hurting a historically unpopular POTUS.” Russia is clearly part of the president’s problem, and he reluctantly signed a new sanctions bill yesterday. “Trump has expressed more concerns about Congress’s Russia sanctions bill than about Putin’s expulsion of US diplomats,” the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza [wrote]( of the president’s [statement]( on signing the bill into law. It was a reminder that Trump’s reaction to Vladimir Putin’s recent provocations represents a conspicuous break from his frequent criticisms of other world leaders. “Now that Putin is taking bona fide, retaliatory measures for U.S. sanctions, Trump would generally be expected to hit back. He hasn’t,” The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake has [observed](. White House policy adviser Stephen Miller’s fiery exchanges with reporters yesterday overshadowed the thin evidence for his central claim: That immigration drives economic inequality, [argues]( The Washington Post’s Philip Bump. On the right, Tim Carney [defended]( Miller: “The liberal critiques of Miller tonight seem to be: He is very offputting. That’s a good indicator he had the stronger argument.” In The Times. Lisa Dickey [recounts]( the “seven fascinating, exciting, deeply weird months of 1988 and 1989” she spent working in the U.S. embassy in Moscow. Putin’s diplomatic expulsions could create “the same kind of strange, sad paranoia we found back then,” she writes. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including [Hera McLeod]( on veterans’ families. Editorial [Capitol Shocker: Democrats and Republicans Start Working Together on Health Care]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD But Republican leaders could still block their efforts. Op-Ed Columnist [Feasting on False and Fake]( By CHARLES M. BLOW The lies are the root of all this evil. Op-Ed Columnist [A Week Without Trumps …]( By GAIL COLLINS Why — WHY — is the White House not giving us any more theme weeks? Op-Ed Columnist [A College Admits a Big Mistake. Imagine That.]( By DAVID LEONHARDT The University of California, Irvine, effectively expelled 499 incoming students to reduce enrollment. On Wednesday, it reinstated most of them. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Donald Trump Knows How to Push Our Buttons]( By THOMAS B. EDSALL Will the renewed economic populism of the Democratic Party be any kind of match for the president’s brand of rough justice? Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Finding Common Ground, Despite Ideological Divides]( By LINDA GREENHOUSE Opposition to the federal government’s “election fraud” commission has united disparate states. Is this President Trump’s one accomplishment? ADVERTISEMENT [Donald Trump, right, with his son Donald Trump Jr. at the Republican National Convention last year.]( Donald Trump, right, with his son Donald Trump Jr. at the Republican National Convention last year. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times [Op-Ed Contributors]( [Oh, Wait. Maybe It Was Collusion.]( By JOHN SIPHER AND STEVE HALL Russian intelligence may have been trying to recruit allies within the Trump campaign to influence the election — and our government. Editorial [Mr. Maduro’s Drive to Dictatorship]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD With new American sanctions, Venezuela’s leader joins the rarefied company of Kim Jong-un and Robert Mugabe. Editorial [Helping the Poor Get Through the Turnstiles]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It’s good to stop prosecuting fare beaters, but better to subsidize the cost of subways and buses for low-income people. Op-Ed Contributor [Racial Justice Demands Affirmative Action]( By SHERRILYN A. IFILL Race-conscious admissions policies have made college campuses, and our country, better off. And the Supreme Court agrees. Op-Ed Contributor [When I Replaced Soviet Workers in the U.S. Embassy]( By LISA DICKEY Who will fill the 755 job vacancies just created by Putin? Maybe young Russophiles like me. Op-Ed Contributors [To Protect Voting, Use Open-Source Software]( By R. JAMES WOOLSEY AND BRIAN J. FOX The threats to elections have never been more serious, and the security of election machinery has never been more important. Op-Ed Contributor [U.S. Is Now Vulnerable to North Korea’s Nukes]( By JEFFREY LEWIS Now we have to live with a new nuclear reality, rather than trying to close our eyes and pretend it isn’t real. Op-Ed Contributor [The Other Wounded Warriors]( By HERA MCLEOD Women and children are also victims of war, and the military isn’t doing enough to help them. Op-Ed Contributor [How to Keep the FARC Guerrillas Out of the Fight]( By OLIVER KAPLAN AND ENZO NUSSIO Successful reintegration of former fighters can offer lessons for the world on how to manage post-conflict challenges and achieve peace. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Letters [$1 Trillion for a U.S. Nuclear Buildup]( Readers argue against the proposal by the Trump administration and some in Congress. 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